through February 7 524 West 26th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, 212-366-4774 A version of this article first appeared in the New York Sun, January 29, 2004 Philip Pearlstein tests limits – his own, his models’, his admirers’. He is not always an artist who is easy to like, but for anyone serious about painting…

Whitney Museum of American Art 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street November 20, 2003 – February 22, 2004 Currin is an accomplished stylist who knows how to cover a canvas. His paintings are full of small seductions. The edges of his forms are everywhere graceful. His handling of drapery and clothing can be delicious. His…